A customer considering buying a new or used vehicle typically visits one or more dealerships or showrooms and browses the vehicles in stock. Afterward, the customer may contact multiple insurance carriers to request a quote for automobile insurance. Or, the customer may browse the web sites of the insurance carriers to request an automobile insurance quote. Often, the customer has to type in the information, such as year, make, and model, for the vehicle of interest. This process can be time-consuming, particularly if the customer is interested in more than one vehicle. Alternatively, if the customer already holds a policy with an insurance carrier, he may contact his agent to request a quote for a new policy or an estimate of the new premium payment. This process is still time-consuming and may require the agent or policyholder to calculate premium differentials.
The customer may also wish to finance the vehicle. The customer may go through a similar process as above—contacting banks and lending institutions, each time supplying information about the vehicle. The lack of immediate insurance or financing information forces the customer to potentially delay purchasing decisions that could be made at the dealership while looking at the vehicle.